Jul. 6th, 2009 at 8:26 PM
There are about as many different variations of Potato Salad as there are, well, trees. No two are ever really alike, and no one person generally ever agrees on exactly what goes into it.
Hot German Potato Salad is, in many ways, no different.
I first tried it at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Va a number of years ago, and was hooked. Mark mentioned that his paternal grandmother used to make it when he was young, but he had no idea if she ever wrote her recipe down. His mom I don't think made it, as she didn't have a recipe either. Nor did my mom.
So I went scouring the Internet. There I found quite the variety of different recipes, all claiming to be 'authentic' Hot German Potato Salad. It was staggering to say the least, as many were near carbon copies of each other.
I took 2 of the most likely recipes, that looked like they were closest to what I'd had and Mark remembered, and combined them, tweaking here and there, changing the type of ingrediant to suit more our taste and came up with something that Mark swears is near exactly like his Grandmom used to make.
Is it authentic? Of course not. Nor will I be silly enough to make that claim. But here's my version of Hot German Potato Salad. I will make the claim that it is yummy and won't last long in your house if you like this sort of potato salad, though.}:P
I always use redskin potatoes. We just like the taste of them more than the yellow(wax) skinned ones or white (mashing). Take a good number of medium to large ones, and slice them up, into approximately 1/4" thick slices. You can opt to peel them first if you don't care for skins, or not, as we do. We like the skins on.
Put the potato slices in a pot of salted boiling water and move on to the rest...
Take a medium/large onion, peel and rough chop it. Now, normally I use red onions, but at the time of this photo series (which was NOT taken this weekend, though I DID make this potato salad this weekend, as the last photos will show), the grocery store was out of red onions, so I had to settle for white. The red onions are sweeter to me. Again, it's all up to personal taste.
Take several stalks of celery, remove the leafy tips and the very ends. Then rough chop them. I generally use celery hearts in anything I make that calls for celery. They're smaller and less gets wasted as I don't use it very often, and I'm the only one here who likes raw celery with peanut butter or cream cheese besides.}:/ The rabbits get the leafy parts and the ends.}:P
One of the recipes I took aspects of, called for specifically 'Oscar Meyer Bacon', but really, use your favorite bacon. You want half a package and I really doubt it matters much whether it's a namebrand or not.
By now your potatoes should be cooked. Drain them and set them aside in a bowl large enough to carefully turn them over in when you add the rest of the ingrediants.
Take your half package of bacon of your choice and chop it into approximately 1/2"- 1" pieces, give or take. If you cut them smaller, in say, 1/2" pieces, you'll get more. And everyone loves more bacon, yes? }:P
Break the pieces apart and toss them in a cold frying pan. Why cold? I have no real idea, but it always seems to give me crispy bacon, so that's how I do it. Try not to eat any as you fry it until it's nice and crispy brown.
Once your bacon is crispy and yummy, remove it and place it on paper towels to drain the excess bacon fat off. Reserve at least 2 Tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan, if you get that much. If you don't, oh well. Don't add anything, it'll be fine, really. Again, try not to eat the bacon.
Toss your chopped celery and onion in the bacon pan. Carefully stirring, fry them until the onions start to turn brown on the edges and translucent, the celery starts to soften slightly. Yes, the house will start to smell good. Stay away from the bacon!
Once the celery and onions are cooked to the right consistancy, sprinkle them with the flour. Then, stir it in really well, trying to get any lumps out. After the flour is well mixed in, add the water, sugar and vinegar.
Now, I usually use apple cider vinegar, but I also use white vinegar as well, when I'm out of apple cider. Just as with everything else, use whatever vinegar you like best. It really doesn't matter, I suppose, unless it's like a red wine vinegar. I don't think red wine vinegar would go well in this. Hrm.
Then reduce the heat to a slow roiling simmer and reduce until the mixture starts to thicken. Liberally season with sea salt and pepper. Make sure you stir occasionally.
When the mixture starts to thicken, add that bacon you stayed away from. Mix it in well, and continue to reduce. You want a slightly thick sauce.
When the sauce has thickened up nicely, remove it from the heat-turning the stove off, of course- and pour it over the potatoes. Scrap the pan to get all that yummy goodness. Stop eating the bacon out of it.
Carefully mix the sauce into the potatoes, trying not to break the slices up too badly. Yes, the potatoes will break up abit, but not too badly. Either cover and let set to meld the flavors, or serve immediately. It's even better reheated the next day, after all the juices have been absorbed into the potatoes.
Enjoy.
Now this. This was what I made for 4th of July dinner.
Grilled T-bone steak, with sauteed onions, red, orange and yellow bell peppers and Hen of the Woods wild mushrooms, Hot German Potato Salad, and steamed corn.
Sorry. There's none left. Maybe next year?
THE RECIPE-
Wolf's Hot German Potato Salad
6-8 medium-large potatoes- I use redskin, use your fav, sliced into 1/4" thick pieces
1/2lb of your choice bacon, chopped into 1/2"-1" pieces
1 medium-large onion, your choice, I use red onions, roughly chopped
2-4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1Tbsp flour
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup white or cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Boil potatoes, drain and set aside in mixing bowl.
Cook bacon until crisp, drain, reserving 2 Tbsp of fat, and set aside. To reserved bacon fat, add celery and onions. Cook, stirring regularly, until oinions start to brown and turn translucent, and celery starts to soften.
Add flour and stir until well mixed in. Then add water, vinegar, and sugar. Reduce heat to medium, and allow mixture to simmer steadily until slightly thickened. Add bacon and stir in. Continue cooking until mixture thickens more.
Remove from heat and immediately pour over potatoes. Quickly mix potatoes and dressing/sauce to incorporate. Serve immediately, or cover and let rest to better meld the flavors.
Better when served reheated the next day.}:P Serves... who knows. I can eat the whole thing on my own. Heh.